About Me

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My name is Deanna Newell.

I’m a wife, mother, auntie, and godmother, and family sits at the heart of everything I do. I’m married to an incredible engineer whose patience, humour, and practical way of looking at the world balances my tendency to analyse everything deeply.

My husband had the opportunity to study at both the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, something I am immensely proud of him for. It was an extraordinary experience and a reflection of the dedication and hard work he puts into everything that he does

Together we are raising four wonderful children, who constantly remind me how differently, and beautifully  people can experience the world.

Our home is also shared with two loving Maine Coon cats, who seem to believe that they run the house. Life with them is chaotic, affectionate, and never quiet.

I write honestly and sometimes uncomfortably about things many people would rather ignore: systems that fail families, the realities of domestic abuse, coercive control, financial abuse, and the challenges neurodivergent families face when trying to navigate institutions that were never designed with them in mind.

My blog exists for one reason: to advocate for change.

I am a law graduate, an NHS mental health professional, and a mother to two autistic children. My work and my life constantly intersect with systems that claim to protect children and families,  family courts, safeguarding services, and the Child Maintenance Service.

What I have discovered is that those systems do not always work the way people believe they do.

Sometimes they leave the most vulnerable families fighting battles they never expected.

I write for the parents who feel exhausted trying to navigate bureaucracy while protecting their children. I write for survivors of coercive control, economic abuse, and financial manipulation. And I write for neurodivergent families who often feel invisible inside systems that demand conformity.

In June 2024, I received my own autism diagnosis.

For most of my life, I had felt slightly out of step with the world. I could function, work, study, and raise a family, but there was always a quiet sense that I experienced things differently from many of the people around me.

I noticed patterns others didn’t see.I asked questions that others seemed uncomfortable asking. And injustice affected me deeply.

Receiving my diagnosis did not feel like a limitation. Instead, it felt like finally being handed the missing piece of a puzzle that I had been trying to understand for decades.

Autism helps explain the way my mind works. I look for patterns, inconsistencies, and truth within systems. When something doesn’t add up, I struggle to ignore it.

Many autistic people share a strong sense of justice. For me, it feels like a compass. When something is unfair, I notice it immediately. And once I see a pattern clearly, it becomes almost impossible to look away. That is why I advocate.

Over time I began to see something troubling. Systems that claim to protect children can sometimes be manipulated or structured in ways that fail them.

As I navigated the Child Maintenance Service while raising two autistic children, I began to see the gaps. Calculations based on technical figures that did not reflect real financial situations. Processes that assumed honesty but struggled to challenge manipulation.

The more I learned, the more one question kept returning: If these systems exist to protect children, why are so many families falling through the cracks?

My writing explores those questions.

But this blog is not just about problems. It is about understanding patterns, sharing experiences, and pushing for change.

I write for:• neurodivergent families• survivors of domestic and financial abuse• parents navigating complex legal systems• and anyone who believes systems should work fairly for the people they are meant to protect.

Sometimes my writing is uncomfortable. Sometimes it is raw.

But honesty is the only way systems improve.

Because change rarely happens when people stay silent.

And when children are affected, silence is not an option.

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Deanna Newell Family Law

Advocacy for truth-tellers, survivors, and the children who deserve better